Tide waved his hand around in irritation. “It doesn’t matter. They’re all rutting up a storm. As far as I know, none of them are mated yet.” He laughed again. “You have mated the female already, yet no sex. You?” He shook his head. “The one male I know that can crook his finger at any human and she’ll come running.”

“I can’t wait until you win a human female of your own. Then you’ll understand. Candy is not some quick fuck. She’s not just any human. She’s my mate, I need to treat her with respect and to get to know her better. I’m not putting her under any pressure. I need to be more than sure that she is well, that she is ready.”

Tide frowned. “You’ve already rutted her, you’re acting like you’re still trying to win her.”

I am.

Fuck!

He was. Torrent had never had to win a female before. He wasn’t sure how to go about it.

Tide waved his hand in front of Torrent’s face.

“Stop that,” Torrent said.

“You disappeared there for a moment. Lost in thought?” He smirked.

“Like I said, I can’t wait until you go through this. I’m going to take great joy out of watching you beg and crawl.”

“Forget that! My female will be all over me, like white on rice. Like green on scale. Like—”

“Enough. You’re giving me a damned headache.” Torrent removed his pants, throwing them over the back of a chair. He opened the large, sliding door and stepped out onto the balcony. Tide followed him.

“I expect you to win a female at the next hunt.” Torrent said.

“I was this close.” Tide held his fingers a millimeter apart. “This fucking close. That bastard Coal beat me to her by seconds. Shit!” His eyes glazed over. “That human was so sexy. So damned hot I still have wet dreams about her. All that dark hair and lush…”

“Enough.” Torrent expected to feel something at the mention of the dark beauty. She had been his first choice and the type of female he always went for but there was nothing. Just like with Ocean, nothing. It seemed that he wanted Candy. His mate. Although she wasn’t officially his mate, not yet anyway.

Soon.

“Forget about that human. She is gone. By now claimed.” He took in a deep breath and moved to the railing. The air was thick with salt and humidity. It invigorated him. The water looked inviting. The open skies looked just as appealing. He turned his head back to where Tide was standing. “Be ready for the next hunt. Train hard. As the first prince and next in line for the throne, I expect you to win a mate.”

“With Coal out of the way, that should be easy.”